HOME STAGING: "Pretty" Storage

When you're about to have strangers looking into every nook and cranny of your home, deciding whether they want to drop a large chunk of change on your place, you want even your useful, undesigned bits to look decent.  While my version is by no means the gorgeous storage "porn" you might see on Pinterest, it does illustrate how some basic changes and a minor investment at the Dollar Store can improve the situation.  I also used some leftover organization bins I hadn't been using lately. Take a look...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Better, right?  The turquoise, white and clear shoe bins are from the Dollar Store.  The brown and the polka dot bins are from Target.  The hanging shelf is a hand-me-down from long ago.  It works for storing handbags, but is starting to bend so that the bags sometimes fall out.  I will find another solution for the next house.

Here are some other examples of storage areas that we (mostly) had somewhat organized. While it's not beautiful, it's a huge improvement over what we had previously (and will maybe make you feel better by comparison if yours are prettier).

(SOMEWHAT) ORGANIZED CLOSETS:

 Hall/kitchen closet: Extra kitchen appliances above, pantry items and Gavin's art supplies in baskets below, book bags and purses on the third shelf, and placemats and extra fabric bags at bottom.  This had been a closet with only a hanging rod, but we have found it much more useful with shelves, since it is right off our kitchen, which doesn't have tons of cabinet space.

 Hall closet ("linen" closet): Travel supplies in low baskets on top, medicines and cleaning supplies on second from top shelf (out of Gavin's reach), Joanna and Mike's beauty/hair supplies on two middle shelves, towels and sheets on bottom shelf, and a basket of rags on the floor.

 An "over the door" rack screwed to the inside of the closet door holds Gavin's ties and sweatshirts.

Inside the Gavin (and Mike's) closet, shoe racks hold (most) of Mike's shoes, floor bins hold Gavin's blocks and extra blankets, while the upper shelf has a big clear bin (for under beds) filled with large games and puzzles (lid is stored elsewhere).  One of the extra under-couch bins holds Mike's aquarium supplies, since the fish tank is in this room.  Not gorgeous, but functional as the bigger bins can be pulled down all at once to go through them rather than using a stool to see what's up there.  Still somewhat put together for showings.

Here are some storage bin ideas if you'd like to get yourself more organized!  Next time I'll try to figure out how to add photos.

Baskets/Bins: woven rope, floor basket, fabric floor bin, cube bin, wooden, wire, metal

UPDATE:  Just to show that this method must have worked at least a little, after two weeks of being on the market, we have an approved offer for almost our asking price (which we raised above our actual goal just to give some wiggle room for a buyer's offer - so we got above our actual goal price!).  So, worth a try if your home is on the market or will be soon...